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Since, I blogged? Yeah yeah, shut up. Can you believe it, original content? Anyway that’s not it.
Since I rock n rolled? Well technically no. i was just cranking out some massive solos in my studio here. But for real, yeah, a long time.
Still that’s not it. Its been a long time since I loved a cd. Radiohead only gives me one every 3 years or so. That’s long time to go without something that just stays in the player. I remember long ago, there was a time when every new album was exciting, it had the potential to be a new favorite. And there will still plenty worth at least buying. Nowadays, I purchase 1 or 2 a year if I’m lucky. Music has really let me down. Maybe I got old and let it down. I doubt it, I find it when its good, when it stands above the music that came before it, when it demands my attention. I think its that second point that gets harder through the years. What sounds old and done to me is something fresh and fun for the next generation. Christ you’d think I was an old man. I’m a hip programmer/musician in my 30′s. (That description could possibly be subjective). But this isn’t another bitch-fest post about the state of music today. (If you’ve got a blog post about it, please leave a link in my comments)
No, this is about finding that gem that stays in my cd player, that gives me hope, that makes me happy about music. I know I’m late to the game here, but I finally found Wilco. Specifically “Sky Blue Sky“.
Don’t know how I ended up with Wilco, all the way from Va Halen, Ratt and the Crue way back then, but here I am and here they are. And thank goodness, my soul’s been as dry as this Minnesota summer.

If you’re into new and undiscovered music you should check out Garageband.com. I’ve been part of the community for years. Basically people do blind reviews of songs, and then charts are compiled for different genres of music. There are several mechanisms and incentives in place to make sure people are participating and doing quality reviews.

Anyway, recently I added one of my song’s, Copper, to Garageband.com. It’s been doing pretty well and today, it is the Garageband Track of the Day.

You can click on the GB Banner to get to my track or go to my GB homepage.

I took in the Weezer show on Tuesday at First Avenue. It was totally packed with quite a mix of people, fortunately being a Weezer show, there was a noticeable lack of assholes looking for a fight.

It was a good show for the fans, they played all the hits just like the album cut, the way fans like to hear them. Well not this fan really, I’d prefer to see them give me a ‘live’version, something that builds off the recorded version then gives me something new that I’d only hear live at the show. Oh well, it turned into a big frat party sing-along, with the crowd practically drowning out the band on many tunes. Of course there’s plenty of ‘good times’ vibes from that type of scene, but when the tallest guys in the place decide to stand right in front of you (happens every time), you at least want to ‘hear’ the band.

Things were to get better, but I have to go back a day first. On Monday I was listening to my favorite podcast The Daily Source Code, and Adam Curry mentioned another podcast he had come across that was being done by a member of Weezer’s roadcrew. I immediately went to check out this blog Parking in Bitterman Circle where the podcast is hosted. The man behind Bitterman is Aron Michalski and he’s the drum and bass tech for Weezer. The top post on his blog was talking about how they had just rolled into Minneapolis from a show in the california desert, and it was cold as hell here that day.
I posted a quick welcoming comment, and let him know I was going to the show. The next morning I had an email from him. Well to make a long story longer, 36 hours after hearing about this guy from a podcast, I’m talking to him after the show. That is the beauty about the times we’re living in, and this new podcast community has some really great stuff going on. I’m a total podcasting geek, so if you’re interested in learning more about it, send me a note.

Well the night climaxed when Aron scored me some drumsticks, he grabbed them right off the snare, and they were totally beat, definitely used for the show. I gave them to my friend’s 15 year-old son, also a drummer, who was at the show with us. That was definitely the best part of the night, handing him those sticks.
Thanks to Bitterman.